Every dad leaves a legacy. I have learned a few things through trial and many errors about being a dad who is trying to leave a positive legacy. Previous installments detailed two ways to leave a good legacy. Love Your Wife Affirm Your Kids Today we will examine two more ways to establish a positive legacy. And we are adding a very dangerous twist today. I polled my three sons about my strengths and (gasp) shortcomings as their father. Those knee-buckling results were both sobering and encouraging. First, the third way to leave a positive legacy as a dad. 3.  Enjoy every mile of the journey The best description I have heard about being a parent is this bit of wisdom:  “Parenting…the days are long and the years are short.” In his book, Being a Good Dad When You Didn’t Have One, Tim Wesemann gives his readers a two-word piece of advice: “Lighten up!”  He says that adults laugh an average of 15 times a day while
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This week I am doing a brief series on leaving a legacy as an earthly father. Every dad leaves a legacy. The only question is what kind. The first step to leaving a positive legacy is to love your wife. For some readers that already has not worked out. That does not mean that you cannot leave a good legacy. There are many ways to redeem the father/child relationship. The second part of leaving a legacy that endures is to be an encouragement to your kids. Paul wrote this simple instruction to the church at Colossae. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. The Message translates this verse  like this…. Parents, don’t come down too hard on your children or you’ll crush their spirits. I cannot remember hearing a lot of teaching on that verse over the years. It is really easy in this success mad culture to discourage your children. Nearly every dad wants his child to be successful.
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Occasionally people will observe our three wonderful sons and ask something like this. “What did you do to parent such great kids?” My response is simple. “I married Joni. The rest is a blur.” There is a little too much truth in that answer. She was and is remarkable. But we did partner in this grand adventure called parenting. Along the way I learned some things mostly by error and stumbling trial. Over the next two days I will share what I have figured out with the disclaimer that I do not claim to be an expert. It is with humility and grateful appreciation to God that He has given me the gift of this family. One thing I have learned in my journey is that every dad leaves a legacy. The only question is whether that legacy will be good, bad, or indifferent. Being a father is tough because we generally learn how to parent while on the job. From
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(The latest iPod Devotional) I have probably been to New York City close to a hundred times. But I still act like a tourist when I walk the streets of Manhattan. I look at people and make eye contact with those I encounter. That makes me weird in a place where weird is the norm Today on a morning walk in search of Dunkin Donuts coffee I passed a woman who was weeping as she walked down the street. My heart went out to her and I wondered what her pain might be. Did she lose a loved one? A relationship? Did she lose her job? Perhaps she or someone she loves had received a devastating diagnosis. Or maybe she felt hopeless and alone. A mystery women in pain amongst ten million people all with their own problems. I will never know the cause of her tears. But God does. Just minutes later I noticed a bedraggled old man wedged
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One of the things you can be sure of when you write or teach about your faith is that you will get a pop quiz on your own material. Recently I spent a wonderful weekend at a men’s retreat in California talking about grace and identity in Christ. The key takeaway from the weekend was to recognize the things that happened when you became a follower of Christ. “Remember who you are” was the slogan of the conference. The pop quiz began before I got home. Nightmarish travel and agonizing computer issues were just warm-ups. Other tests came bundled in what we used to call “unspoken requests” in my growin’ up church. In other words, we don’t want to talk about it or we don’t really trust you with it. Long story short…Satan wanted me to forget the joy of fellowship with those men and focus instead on some less than ideal circumstances. Enter today’s iPod Devotional tune. An artist
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(From theFish.com) When the day started I had a completely different direction for this edition of the iPod Devotional. I had discovered a new artist and I was excited to share the artist and the inspiration. The random iPod feature changed that direction entirely this morning. An old hymn that I remembered from my moralistic past cued up. I have a tendency to move past those old songs because they remind me of a graceless congregation that nearly crushed me with rules and hypocritical judgment. I glanced at the screen. Casting Crowns. Hmm…I had a conundrum. I love Casting Crowns. So I decided to listen to the music of my painful past and a song called “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”. I was amazed to discover that I used to sing about the same truths that I am now discovering. The difference is that I did not understand how those truths played out in grace and faith. One
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As Easter approaches I remembered an article in USA Today titled We are Easter People. I think it is worth a second look and here is a portion of the piece written by Diane Cameron. One of the lowest points in my life occurred years ago when I was living in Washington, D.C., at Easter time. My older sister had recently died and both of my brothers were seriously ill; my best friend was leaving town, and on top of that I was questioning my work. In my journal that April I wrote, “Am I depressed?” When I read those pages now I laugh and shake my head. “Depressed?” That I even had to ask. In that long year I thought I’d never laugh again, just as I thought I’d never again feel love, the joy of easy friendship, or the satisfaction of good work. I went to church that Easter out of both habit and desperation. I had grown up in
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